Chapter 394: The Plucked Phoenix, Dumbledore's Pensieve
"Nothing, he's probably just a little excited to see an old friend."
"Is... is this really excitement?" Harry was a bit doubtful, "But Abbey has already bared its claws, it wouldn't..."
Before he could finish, Abbey transformed into a white afterimage, accelerating and charging towards Fawkes.
Fawkes immediately spread its wings and flew to the ceiling, causing Abbey to miss.
Roar!
Abbey roared, spread its white wings, and flew into the air in pursuit.
Two figures, one red and one white, crashed through the Principal's office, sending gold and silver artifacts scattering across the floor.
Fawkes was in a sorry state; though it was reluctant to admit it, it really couldn't beat Abbey right now.
If they were outside, it might have had room to escape, but the Principal's office, neither too big nor too small, was quickly overtaken by Abbey.
Sharp claws directly clamped onto its neck. Fawkes saw a hint of joy mixed with pure intent in Abbey's eyes and was immediately filled with panic, igniting its body with crimson flames, hoping to make it release its grip with the high temperature.
Abbey disdainfully glared at it, and a layer of pure white scales appeared on its body, easily withstanding the Phoenix's flames.
Next, its other claw began to pluck feathers, and Fawkes let out a mournful cry.
In just a few seconds, one-third of its red and golden feathers were plucked, and even several of its dazzling tail feathers were pulled out.
"Stop, stop it now!" Harry couldn't bear to watch any longer and shouted urgently.
Abbey paused, turned to look at Aaron, and only released the despondent Phoenix after seeing its master nod.
"Uh... don't mind it." Aaron spoke nonsense with a straight face, "Sometimes the way magical creatures greet each other is just this unpretentious."
"Is this a greeting?" Harry said angrily, "Even if I'm uneducated, you shouldn't try to fool me like this!
Look how much Fawkes has been bullied, it's even crying."
"What? Crying?"
Aaron seemed a bit surprised by this and quickly walked over to Fawkes.
Just as Harry thought he was going to comfort and apologize, Abbey directly pulled an empty crystal bottle from its pocket.
"Sensible." Aaron patted Abbey's little head, then carefully collected the Phoenix's tears. "These are healing elixirs; it would be a shame to let them fall to the ground."
Abbey snorted disdainfully, then, in front of Fawkes, tucked the plucked feathers one by one into its own pocket.
The Phoenix immediately cried even more sadly, and its tears flowed much faster.
Harry, witnessing this scene, was also dumbfounded, unable to find words to describe it.
He had truly had his eyes opened today; Aaron and Abbey's outrageous actions had opened the door to a new world for him. Plucking feathers was one thing, but not even sparing the tears.
Collecting its tears and feathers right in front of Fawkes was beyond cruel; it was simply insane.
"This is going to be terrible; Dumbledore will be very angry when he gets back."
"Not necessarily, it's just a few plucked feathers."
"Is that a few?" Harry said speechlessly, "Now Fawkes is only slightly better than a turkey."
Aaron paused, then turned and gave him a thumbs-up. "That jab was perfectly timed."
Before Harry could react, he saw Abbey hand Aaron another empty crystal bottle.
Fawkes's tears had almost stopped flowing, but Harry's remark made Aaron collect another half bottle of tears.
"Alright, what a bountiful harvest!" Aaron said contentedly, and Abbey also patted its pocket, feeling that this trip had been well worth it.
Harry couldn't bear it and picked up Fawkes, gently placing it on a soft cushion and offering it some water to drink.
"Dumbledore will never let us off the hook when he sees it looking so sickly," Harry said, on the verge of tears. "I've been dragged into a mess because of you this time."
"Don't worry, a Phoenix's self-healing ability is quite exaggerated; to some extent, they are immortal creatures," Aaron said dismissively. "The damage to its body now is just because it's unwilling to recover itself.
But it's no big deal, Abbey, heal it."
Abbey hesitated, then reluctantly walked over to Fawkes and activated its healing ability.
A white magical array appeared above Fawkes, and in a short while, its injuries were completely healed. Except for a few missing feathers, it was almost impossible to tell it had been hurt.
Harry's mouth twitched, and he subconsciously said, "That's really mean!"
"What did you say?"
"N-nothing." Harry immediately waved his hand, then looked at the messy Principal's office. "Let's clean this up quickly before Dumbledore gets back."
Aaron shrugged, then drew his wand and waved it at the floor. The gold and silver artifacts flew back to their respective places.
"Done."
"Remarkable magical talent." The Sorting Hat spoke, "It was right to sort you into Slytherin; your value has been fully realized."
"Tch, if you don't want a bath, shut your mouth."
"Okay."
Harry shook his head speechlessly and found a chair to sit on.
This was his first time sitting so casually in the Principal's office, and knowing he could tell Dumbledore about his dream soon, his mood lightened considerably.
In a daze, he noticed a cabinet that wasn't tightly closed, and bright silver light emanated from the gap.
Harry hesitated, then walked over curiously and opened the cabinet door.
Inside was a shallow stone basin with strange carvings around its rim, covered in letters and runes.
The basin didn't contain liquid, but rather wisps of silver light that swirled and danced freely within it, creating beautiful ripples.
"Aaron, do you know what this is?"
"Yes." Aaron nodded, "This is called a Pensieve; I have one too.
This kind of magical artifact is extremely rare. It can store memories, preventing certain things from being forgotten over time.
The person who stored the memories can also observe their own memories through it from a third-person perspective, finding details that might easily be overlooked."
"So that means Dumbledore's secrets are stored in here?"
"No, you can't call them secrets, just memories.
No one would put their real secrets in a Pensieve; it would be terrible if others saw them." Aaron said seriously. He occasionally put some memories in his Pensieve, but those memories weren't particularly important, just ones he felt would be a shame to forget.
Harry reached in with his wand and stirred it.
The silver stream of light slowly rotated, becoming more transparent.
"That's not how you play with it." Aaron said helplessly, "You need to get closer.
If you want to know memories about Barty Crouch, you just need to think of him."
"Will there be any in here?"
"There might not have been before, but recently Dumbledore would definitely have extracted these memories..."
Aaron's voice cut off mid-sentence because Harry had already plunged his head in.
"Incredible!" Aaron's mouth twitched slightly. After a long hesitation, he pulled him back. "You're really something; entering someone else's memories without permission is very dangerous. Haven't Tom Riddle's lessons been enough for you?"
"Dumbledore is completely different from Lord Voldemort." Harry gasped for breath. "And I learned a lot of useful things: Crouch, Karkaroff, Bagman, and... Professor Snape."
"What did you see?" Aaron frowned.
"Karkaroff's trial. He was captured by Professor Moody, and Barty Crouch presided over the trial.
He wanted to reveal the names of other Death Eaters to get out of Azkaban, but he was unlucky; the few people he named were either dead or already captured.
He also named..."
Harry hesitated, then continued, "Severus Snape. Dumbledore said Snape was his spy planted on Lord Voldemort's side."
"Whew!" Aaron took a deep breath and looked at Harryseriously. "You keep this to yourself and never tell anyone else, including Sirius."
"Many people know; there were at least several hundred Wizards at that trial."
"But many people don't know." Aaron said irritably, "At Hogwarts, hundreds of students don't know. If you spread this around, Professor Snape will be very troubled."
Harry nodded blankly, "I understand."
"And then? Who else did Karkaroff name?
He not only got out of Azkaban but also became the Principal of Durmstrang; he's quite successful."
"You won't believe it; it's absolutely incredible.
Barty Crouch Jr., Barty Crouch's son, is actually a Death Eater."
"Wait... are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
"Absolutely not." Harry said very confidently, "Old Barty personally sent his son to Azkaban, right in front of his wife. His wife even fainted; it's just... too cruel."
Aaron was silent for a while after hearing this. "Anything else?"
"Also Neville. His parents were tortured with the Crucio by several Death Eaters." Harry said with a heavy expression, "Professor Moody knew about this. When he used the Crucio in Defense Against the Dark Arts Class in front of Neville, he was probably trying to help him overcome that nightmare."
"But he failed; Neville's face went pale with fright then."
"And Ludo Bagman; he was also accused of being a Death Eater."
"Are you kidding?" Aaron said incredulously, "He could be a Death Eater? Then Lord Voldemort's standards for recruiting must be too low!"
Harry agreed wholeheartedly. In his opinion, while Ludo Bagman was somewhat annoying, he was fundamentally different from a Death Eater. At least he definitely didn't have the guts to violate the Ministry of Magic's laws.
"Many people thought so, which is why Ludo Bagman was released with hardly any trial." Harry spread his hands. "That's all I've seen so far. I can only say it's Dumbledore's memories, alright; just a little bit leaked out is enough to shock us for years."